Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky Defeats Isaac Haxton In Epic Battle

Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky defeated Isaac Haxton earlier this morning to earn himself a spot in the "All-Star Showdown" final on Pokerstars. "Sauce123" will face the winner of Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond vs Dan "w00ki3z." Cates, which will get underway on Saturday afternoon.

The battle between "Sauce123" and Isaac Haxton ended up lasting nearly 19 hours. In the end, more than 4,200 hands were played before Sulsky was finally able to put Haxton away and advance to the finals. According to Pokerstarsblog.com (link below), there were more than a dozen lead changes over the course of the match, and both players dug themselves out of $100k+ holes.

Each player started the semi-final match with a bankroll of $200,000. Both players bought in for $20,000 on four tables of $100/$200 No Limit Hold'em. The winner would be the player who managed to take all $200,000 from his opponent. The rules of the match called for a doubling of the blinds after 3,000 hands, and a further doubling of the blinds after 5,000 hands.

Shortly after the blinds doubled (3,000 hands), Haxton had a $50k lead in the match. The lead changed hands a few times over the next few hundred hands before Sulsky was finally able to pull away for good.

"Sauce123" was able to win the match on Hand #4,207.

After a flop of 9c-Js-7s, the two players got their stacks into the middle of the table. The turn brought the Jd, while the river brought the 2d. The two players flipped over:

"Sauce123" - 10h-8d
Ike Haxton - 7h-9s

Ike Haxton flopped two pair, but "Sauce123" managed to flop a straight. Haxton didn't improve, and "Sauce123" won the match and moved on to the finals.

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"Sauce123" is now guaranteed a minimum of $250,000 for making it through to the finals. The eventual winner of the event will take home $550,000.